Washington – Senators argued Tuesday over whether Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson should be held accountable following the second disappearance of a computer containing veterans’ personal information.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called for to Nicholson, a former Colorado developer, to “resign immediately.” Other Democrats questioned his leadership.

Nicholson announced the second disappearance Monday. A subcontractor, Unisys Corp., told the department last week that a desktop computer was missing from its Reston, Va. offices. It included data on 38,000 veterans who received medial treatment in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

“A computer was stolen from a private contractor’s highly secured office building,” said Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho. “I am fairly confident that Jim Nicholson did not break in and steal that computer.”

Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo. and a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said the second disappearance was “unacceptable.”

“I intend to work with my colleagues to hold the secretary’s feet to the fire, but I am not ready today to call for his resignation,” Salazar said Tuesday.

On Monday, Nicholson said that the VA “is making progress to reform its information technology and cyber-security procedures.”

The latest loss follows the theft of a laptop containing personal data on 26.5 million veterans from a VA employee’s home in May. That laptop was recovered. The agency said no veterans’ data had been accessed.

“Less than a month after promising to make the VA the ‘gold standard’ in data security, Secretary Nicholson has again presided over loss of the personal information of thousands more veterans,” said Reid, D-Nev. “Enough is enough.”

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